RIZAL’S TRIAL
for Filipinos who may be persecuted
Preliminary Investigation
- On November 20, 1896, the preliminary
investigation began. Rizal, the accused,
appeared before the Judge Advocate,
Colonel Francisco Olive. He was subjected
to a grueling five-day investigation
Two kinds of evidence were presented
against Rizal, namely documentary and
testimonial. The documentary evidence
consisted of fifteen exhibits, as follows:
1. A letter of Antonio Luna to Mariano
Ponce, dated Madrid, October 16,
1888, showing Rizal's connection
with the Filipino reform campaign in
Spain.
2. A letter of Rizal to his family, dated
Madrid, August. 20, 1890, stating
that the deportations are good for
they will encourage the people to
hate tyranny.
3. A letter from Marcelo H. del Pilar to
Deodato Arellano, dated Madrid,
January 7, 1889, implicating Rizal in
the Propaganda campaign in Spain
4. A poem entitled Kundiman, allegedly
written by Rizal in Manila on
September 12, 1891. This poem is
as follows:
5. A letter of Carlos Oliver to an
unidentified person, dated
Barcelona, September 18, 1891,
describing Rizal as the man to free
the Philippines from Spanish
oppression
6. A Masonic document, dated Manila,
February 9, 1892, honoring Rizal for
his patriotic services.
7. A letter signed Dimasalang (Rizal's
pseudonym) to Tenluz (Juan
Zulueta's pseudonym), dated
Hongkong, May 24, 1892, stating
that he was preparing a safe refuge
by the Spanish authorities.
8. A letter of Dimasalang to an
unidentified committee, dated
Hongkong, June 1, 1892, soliciting
the aid of the "patriotic work".
9. An anonymous and undated letter to
the Editor Rizal to Dapitan. of the
Hongkong Telegraph, censuring the
banishment of Rizal to Dapitan.
10. A letter of Ildefonso Laurel to Rizal,
dated Manila, September 3, 1892,
saying that the Filipino people look
up to him (Rizal) as their savior.
11. A letter of Ildefonso Laurel to Rizal,
dated Manila, 17, 1893, informing an
unidentified correspondent of the
arrest and banishment of Doroten
Cortes and Ambrosio Salvador.
12. A letter of Marcelo H. del Pilar to
Don Juan A. Tenluz (Juan Zulueta),
dated Madrid, June 1, 1893
recommending the establishment of
a special organization, independent
of Masonry, to help the cause of the
Filipino people.
13. Transcript of a speech of Pingkian
(Emilio Jacinto), in a reunion of the
Katipunan on July 23, 1893, in which
the following cry was uttered "Long
Live the Philippines! Long live
Liberty! Long live Doctor Rizal!
Unity!"
14. Transcript of a speech of Tik-Tik
(Jose Turiano Santiago) in the same
Katipunan reunion, where in the
katipunèros shouted: "Long live the
eminent Doctor Rizal! Death to the
oppressor nation!"
15. A poem by Laong Laan (Rizal),
entitled A Talisay, in which the
author makes the Dapitan
 schoolboys sing that they know how - An order of attachment be issued
to fight for their rights. against his property to the amount of
one million pesos as indemnity.
- He should be defended in court by
The testimonial evidence consisted of an army officer, not by a civilian
the oral testimonies of: lawyer.

I. Martin Constantino
II. Aguedo del Rosario
RIZAL CHOOSES HIS DEFENDER
III. Jose Reyes
IV. Moises Salvador  On December 8, Feast Day of the
V. Jose Dizon Immaculate Conception a list of 100
VI. Domingo Franco first and second lieutenants in the
VII. Deodato Arellano Spanish Army was presented to
VIII. Ambrosio Salvador Rizal. He looked over the list. One
IX. Pedro Serrano Laktaw name struck his fancy. It was Don
X. Dr. Pio Valenzuela Luis Taviel de Andrade, 1st
XI. Antonio Salazar Lieutenant of the Artillery
XII. Francisco Quison and Timoteo Paez
READING OF INFORMATION OF
 On November 26, after the CHARGES TO THE ACCUSED
preliminary investigation, Colonel  On December 11, the information of
Olive transmitted the records of the charges was formally read to Rizal in
case to Governor General Ramon his prison cell, with his counsel
Blanco, and the latter appointed present. As the accused:
Captain Rafael Dominguez as 1. Rizal raised no objection on the
special Judge Advocate to institute jurisdiction of the court but pleaded
the corresponding action against not guilty to the crime of rebellion.
Rizal. 2. He admitted that he wrote the
 Immediately, Dominguez made a Constitution of the Liga Filipina
brief resume of the charges and which was merely a civic
returned the papers to Governor association.
General Blanco who, thereupon, 3. He waived the right to amend or
transmitted them to the Judge make further statements already
Advocate General, Don Nicolas de made, except that he had taken no
la Peña, for an opinion. part in politics since his exile to
 AFTER STUDYING THE PAPERS, Dapitan.
PEÑA SUBMITTED THE
FOLLOWING  Dominguez forwarded the papers of
RECOMMENDATIONS: the Rizal case to Malacañan Palace
- The accused be immediately on December 13, the same day
brought to trial. when General Camilo G. de
- He should be kept in prison. Polavieja, with the help of the
powerful Dominican friars, became
 Governor General of the Philippines, reiterate, always your attentive and
succeeding General Blanco. affectionate servant and client,

RIZAL'S MANIFESTO TO HIS PEOPLE THE TRIAL OF RIZAL

 On December 15, Rizal wrote a a. The trial of Rizal was an

manifesto to his people appealing to eloquent proof of Spanish
them to stop the necessary shedding injustice and misrule. More
of blood and to achieve their liberties than a farce, it was patently a
by means of education and industry. mistrial. Rizal, a civilian, was
tried by a military court
 Fortunately for Rizal, Judge composed of alien military
Advocate General Nicolas de la officers. His case was
Peña recommended to Governor prejudged; he was
General Polavieja that the manifesto considered guilty before the
be suppressed. The latter heeded actual trial. The military court
the recommendation so that Rizal's met not to give him justice,
manifesto was not issued to the but to accuse and condemn
people. him. It accepted all charges
and testimonies against him
RIZAL'S SADDEST CHRISTMAS and ignored ill arguments
and proofs in his favor.
 December 25, 1896, was Christmas.
Moreover, Rizal was not
Truly, the Christmas of 1896, his.
given the right (which any
last on earth, was the saddest in
accused is entitled to have in
Rizal's life. He was in despair for, he
a real court of justice) to face
had no illusions about his fate.
the witnesses against him in
Brooding over his hopeless case, he
open court.
wrote a letter to Lt. Taviel de
b. At 8:00 a.m., December 26,
Andrade, as follows:
1896, the court-martial of
11 Fort Santiago, December 25, 1896 Rizal started in the military
building called Cartel de
My Very Distinguished Defender: Espana. Seated behind a
long table on an elevated
The Investigating Judge has informed me
dais were the seven
that tomorrow my case will be heard before
members of the military
the court. I was waiting for you this morning
court, dressed in their
to tell you of an important matter, but
respective army uniforms, as
undoubtedly the pressure of your work did
follows: Lt. Col. Jose Togores
not permit you to come as expected by the
Arjona (president), Capt.
Investigating Judge. If you have time, I
Ricardo Munoz Arias, Capt.
should like to speak to you before I appear
Manuel Reguera, Capt.
before the court; I shall be grateful if you
Santiago Izquierdo Osorio,
come this afternoon, this evening, or
Capt. Braulio Rodriguez
tomorrow. Wishing you "Merry Christmas," I
Nuñez, Capt. Manuel Diaz
 Escribano, and Capt. Fermin
Perez Rodriguez.
c. Also present at the
courtroom were Dr. Rizal (the
accused), Lt. Tavel de
Andrade (his defense
counsel), Capt. Rafael
Dominguez (Judge
Advocate), Lt. Enrique de
Alcocer (Prosecuting
Attorney), and the
spectators. Among the
spectators were Josephine
Bracken, some
newspapermen, and many
Spaniards.
d. Rizal sat on a bench
between two soldiers. His
arms were tied behind, elbow
to elbow, like a common
felon. He was dressed in a
black woolen suit with a white
vest and black tie. He was
calm and dignified in
appearance.
e. The trial was opened by
Judge Advocate Dominguez
who explained the case
against Rizal. After him,
Prosecuting Attorney Alcocer
arose and delivered a long
speech summarizing the
charges against Rizal and
urged the court to give the
verdict of death to the
accused. The Spanish
spectators applauded noisily
Alcocer's petition for the
sentence of death.
f. After the prosecuting
attorney finished his spirited
harangue, Defense Counsel
Taviel de Andrade took the
floor and read his eloquent
defense of Rizal. He ended
his defense with a noble, but
futile, admonition to the
members of the military: “The
judges cannot be vindictive;
the judges can only be just.”
Incidentally, his admonition
fell on deaf ears. The
Spanish army officers who
were trying Rizal were both
vindictive and unjust.
g. When Lt. Taviel de Andrade
took his seat, the court asked
Rizal whether he had
anything to say. Rizal then
read a supplement to his
defense which he wrote in his
prison cell. In his
supplementary defense, he
further proved his innocence
by twelve points:
1. He could not be guilty of rebellion,
for he advised Dr. Pio Valenzuela in
Dapitan not to rise in revolution.
2. He did not correspond with the
radical, revolutionary elements.
3. The revolutionists used his name
without his knowledge. If he were
guilty, he could have escaped in
Singapore.
4. If he had a hand in the revolution, he
could have escaped in a Moro vinta
and would not have built a home, a
hospital, and bought lands in
Dapitan.
5. If he were the chief of the revolution,
why was he not consulted
6. It was true he wrote the by-laws of
the Liga Filipina, but this is only a
civic association- not a revolutionary
society.
7. The Liga Filipina did not live long, for
after the first meeting he was
banished to Dapitan, and it died out.
that he would never sanction any
violent movement.
h. The military court, prejudiced as it was,
remained indifferent to Rizal's pleading. The
president, Lt. Col. Togores Arjona,
considered the trial over and ordered the
hall cleared. After a short deliberation, the
military court unanimously voted for the
sentence of death.

i. On the same day (December 26th), the

8. If the Liga was reorganized nine
months later, he did not know about
it.
9. The Liga did not serve the purpose
of the revolutionists, otherwise they
would not have supplanted it with
the Katipunan.
court decision was submitted to Governor
General Polavieja. Immediately, Polavieja
sought the opinion of Judge Advocate
General Nicolas de la Peña on the court
decision. The latter affirmed the death
verdict.

10. If it were true that there were some

bitter comments in Rizal's letters, it
was because they were written in
1890 when his family was being
persecuted, being dispossessed of
houses, warehouses, lands, etc, and
his brother and all his brothers-in-
law were deported.

11. His life in Dapitan had been

exemplary as the politico-military
commanders and missionary priests
could attest.

12. It was not true that the revolution

was inspired by his one speech at
the house of Doroteo Ongjunco, as
alleged by witnesses whom he
would like to confront. His friends
knew his opposition to armed
rebellion. Why did the Katipunan
send an emissary to Dapitan who
was unknown to him? Because
those who knew him were aware